Leaping figure toy



1957 w. H. FORD LEAPING FIGURE TOY Filed March 29, 1954 WILLIAM H. FORDATTORNEYS United States Patent LEAPINGFIGURE TOY William H. Ford,Springfield, Ohio Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,272

4 Claims. (Cl. 46-129) of means for cushioning the action of the springof the device to avoid the usual explosive spurt of action. cornmon todevises having a :single kick-up or soap action release such as arefound in the mouse trap andvacuum cup arrangements. The tendency presentin the latter devices to frighten children is minimized or substantiallyeliminated in embodiments of the present invention due to the initialslow warning motion .of the spring.

A principal object of the invention is the provision of a novelty devicein the form of a leaping figure toy provided with a spring.actingmechanisrn having a positive controllable time delay periodpreceding the release :of the major portion of the .spring energy (forsimulation of movement of an animal in effecting a leap.

Another object of the invention .is the provision of a spring actuatedleaping .figure toy, the actuation of the spring of which is controlledby flow and which .fiow is capable of providinga sound effect as well asa cushioning action to the toy.

Yet another object of the invention 'is the provision of .a leapingfigure toy, the direction and characteristics of the leap of Which maybe controlled by the constructional arrangement of the parts of the toy.

For the purposes of disclosure of. the principles of this invention atoy in the form of a dog has been selected for illustration in theaccompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, built isto be understood that such is representative only .and not limitative ofthe applications to which the device of invention may be directed.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a toy constructed and arranged inaccordance with the invention having :parts broken away to illustratethe actuating mechanism and to show the fabric covering of the my; 7

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the toy of Figure 1 illustratingthe manner of setting the mechanism for actuation in accordance with theprinciples of this invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the toy of Figure l in theactuated condition thereof at a point near the conclusion of a leap;

Figure 4 is a sectional view illustrating the arrangement of theprincipal parts of the mechanism of invention; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view illustrating a modification of theinvent-ion. r

2,776,525 Patented Jan. 8, 1957 Referring to the drawings the toyindicated generally at 1 has a body portion 2 in the generalconfiguration of a dog. Numerals 3, 5 indicate the fore legs andnumerals 7, 9 designate the rear legs of the animal. Legs 7, 9 arepivoted to the body 2 at 11 for movement as a unit and the lower portionof these legs is connected together by a rod 13 passing between the legsand journaled therein.

The rear paws 15 are preferably constituted of soft rubber or otherappropriate material capable of frict-ionally engaging a fiat surface topreventprematune movement of the animal in the set condition of theactuating spring and to improve the nature of the leap. Soft rubber orother frictional material may also be provided on the legs at 16 (Figure2) for the same purpose and such may be formed to simulate in appearancethe skin of the animal.

The body and leg portions are suitably formed of rigid wooden memberscovered by anappropriate material hav ing a degree of flexibilitysufilcient to permit the functioning of the toy; for example, the rigidmembers may be covered with a fabric, pile fabric or rubber. However, ifdesired the struoturemay be of plastic or metal and the invention is notlimited to any particular mateing mechanism as described, although ifdesired the body may be substantially completely hollow. Adjacent theneck of the animal on the interior thereof in the hollow is a cross bar17 which is itself pivotally secured for movement in opposing sideframes19, .21 (Figure 4) of the body portion 2. Secured to the cross bar forfree pivotal movement therewith in the hollow is a cylinder '23 providedwith a piston 25 having a piston rod 27 .extending downwardly andprojecting through the lower wall portion of the cylinder.

The'piston is itself provided with a very tiny pin hole aperture 28.(Figure 4) through which-air may leak slowly. The ring 30 of the pistonis of leather or other flexible material and is turned downwardly topermit the flow of air around the piston as the piston moves upwardrelatively to the cylinder (see arrows Figure 2), but is so formed, asmay be clearly seen from Figure 4, as to inhibit the flow of air fromthe lower portion of the cylinder to the upper portion in the downwardpassage of the piston relative to the cylinder. A ring of leather aloneor a ring of leather impregnated with oil is eminently satisfactory 'forthe purpose, although fabrics or rubber or other materials of sufficientstrength tion of the piston may 'be beneath the animal, or, as in thepresent instance, the cylinder may be wholly within the body of theanimal; in this case a valve or opening 31 maybe provided in the lowerportion of the animal body to permit the free access of air to theinterior if the body is otherwise airtight. However, in most instances,whether the major portion of the body 2 is hollow or solid, some airleakage will take place into the interior housing to permit air to Howthrough the ports 29 to the interior of the cylinder.

The cylinder .23 is further provided with a plurality of openings 33about a portion of the periphery thereof between the cylinder ends, andthese openings .in the present instance are shown about midway of thelength of the cylinder wall; and neither the size, the number orlocation of the openings is critical, butthey must be of suflicient sizeto permit air to fiow readily therethrough,

The ports may be directly in the atmosphere, in which case the lowerporin contrast to the slow flow of air through the pin hole aperture ofthe piston. The hollow in which the cylinder rests, as already noted, issufficiently large to permit movement of the cylinder therein andaccordingly openings 33 are really communicable with the atmospherewithin the hollow.

The lower portion of the projecting piston rod 27 is secured to thecross rod 13 for pivotal movement thereof with respect to the rear legs7, 9 of the animal. Secured on the piston rod above the cross rod is agrommet 35 which is preferably of a resilient material such as softrubber, and this grommet resiliently retains the lower end ofcompression spring 37. The upper end of spring 37 (Figure 4) is suitablyprovided with a metal grommet 38 which receives the spring end and bearsagainst the cylinder base, the piston rod 27 passing through an apertureof this metal grommet to retain the same and the spring with respect tothe rod.

Surrounding the spring and secured between the under portion of the body2 and the grommet 35 is a spring housing 39, apertured at 36 for freeair flow into and out of the housing; the housing may be simply a fabricor a rubber member which is of sufficient length to be compressed andextended with the spring 37; the same is not necessary to the practiceof the invention but is effective to cover the spring from view and toeliminate direct contact therewith as well as to hinder the entry offoreign matter.

Extending between the upper end of the hollow which houses the cylinder23 and the mouth of the animal at 40 is a narrow passage 42 the purposeof which will become more apparent hereinafter.

In the operation of the device shown in Figures 1-4, the toy is suitablysupported as at 41 (Figure 2) and the body portion 2 (Figure 1) ispushed down to the position shown in the former figure. Pressure of thehand 43 causes the body portion 2 and the cylinder 23 to move downwardlyrelatively to the piston 25 compressing the air above the piston, whichair then flows down around the piston ring 30 to create a vacuumpressure on the side of the piston which is uppermost. Simultaneouslythe cylinder bears against the spring 37 and compresses the same (Figure2); the air pressure on the lower side of the piston is atmospheric andthe differential pressure across the piston normally would retain thespring compressed, but this differential pressure is slowly lessened,when the hand 43 is removed, by leakage of air through pin hole 28 tothe vacuum spacing on the upper side of the piston. This change inpressure differential causes the piston 25 to move slowly down wardlyrelative to the cylinder 23or viewed somewhat differently the cylinderitself is caused to move upwardly relatively to the legs of the animal,as the internal air pressure on the upper end of the cylinder increases.Thus effectively the combination of the cylinder and piston is slowlylengthened out from the Figure 2 position and simultaneously the spring37 relaxes very slowly, the body portion 2 moving upwardly with thecylinder, with the paws of the animal remaining firmly gripped on thesurface 41.

As the openings 33 traverse the piston pressure on the upper side of thepiston is suddenly raised to atmospheric by the rapid entry of air, andsince the pressures on both sides of the piston, due to the air, arethen equal, the spring pressure acting upon the cylinder issubstantially unrestrained and sudden upward movement of the spring atan increased rate throws the cylinder and the toy as a whole into theair upwardly and forwardly.

The free pivotal movement of the cylinder, piston and spring assemblyfacilitates this action materially and substantially the onlyrestraining influence is the weight of the novelty device.

Referring briefly to Figure there is shown therein a modification of thestructure of invention with respect to the portion of the mechanismwhich includes the means for the development of the vacuum pressure andthe slow relieving thereof.

In Figure 5 cylinder 23' is provided with piston 25' and rod 27 therings 44 which may be of metal and substantially unyielding in themanner of normal piston rings. In the cylinder head 45 there is provideda valve having a body portion 47 which body portion has an aperturewhich is normally closed by a ball 49 provided on the seat 51 andretained and positioned in the seat by the pressure of spring 53.

Relative movement of the piston 25' with respect to the cylinder 23'causes air to be exhausted from the top of the cylinder above thepiston. The valve seat or the ball may be nicked or slightly grooved topermit a slow return or air therethrough upon such evacuation. Thus thestructure is capable of developing a vacuum and permitting aslowbreakage of the vacuum.

With respect to this structure it is to be noted by placing a finger,for example, over the port of the valve the vacuum could be maintainedand the spring compressed for any desired period after setting of thedevice. Similarly the time period may be controlled by utilizing asuitable needle valve, positioned for example in the cylinder side wallor cylinder head and effective to replace the pinhole aperture 28 or thevalve of Figure 5.

Various modification of the embodiment set forth may be employed toachieve specifically desired results; the relationship of the legs, thelocation of the center of gravity of the toy, the position of thecylinder and spring, the location of the pivot point of the cylinder andpiston rod, as well as the location of the pivot point between the rigidelements constituting the body portion and the legs, may be readilyaltered to accommodate the structure to a particular type of animal andto secure a particular effect. For example, the animal may be made toleap upwardly and forwardly, only upwardly, or may be arranged to give asubstantially horizontal motion to the novelty. Thus the device isuseful with animal novelties in general and particularly is useful withthose such as the kangaroo, a donkey which kicks, and is of course ofprimary importance in connection with any animal which sets itself priorto effecting a leap or kick.

As a further modification of the invention as particularly applied toanimals, the opening of the cylinder, or the valve, or the constrictedpassage 42 may suitably have secured therein at 55 a device which emitssound when air flow therethrough takes place, and such device may becaused to emit a sound characteristic of the particular object, at asuitable time period in the actuation of the device. More specificallythe toy dog of Figure 1 may be caused to growl prior to the leap whensetting the spring by the positioning of a sound device at the edge ofthe valve of Figure 5, for example.

The mode of operation of the mechanism may also be varied for the springmay be tensed rather than compressed by the initial actuation of therigid elements, the spring being released in the same manner as alreadydescribed, by breakage of the vacuum. Further the spring may bepositioned within the cylinder for actuation if so desired.

The pivoted cylinder, piston spring assembly provides for considerableflexibility in the devices which are in the form of animals for theupper pivot may be mounted in any of several locations to providedifferent angular relationships of the assembly with respect, forexample to the limbs of the toy of the drawings; similarly the limbs maybe lengthened or shortened to provide desired arrangements of the lowerpivot.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modificationin order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and accordinglyit is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention asmay fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A leaping figure toy comprising relatively rigid body and limbportions secured pivotally together adjacent a rearward end of thefigure, and secured within a forward open end of the figure between thebody and limb portions a cylinder and a piston therein, a piston rodprojecting from the cylinder, the cylinder being pivotally secured tothe body portion and the piston rod being pivotally secured to the limbportion, a coil spring surrounding the piston rod and having one endslidable thereon, the other end being supported by the piston rod formovement therewith, said spring being between said cylinder and limbportion, means to develop a vacuum upon one side of the piston uponrelative movement in one direction of the cylinder and piston to stressthe spring, means to leak air from the atmosphere slowly into the vacuumthus created to reverse the relative movement of the piston and cylinderand to partially relax the spring and urge said body and limb portionsapart, and means to thereafter equalize the pressure upon opposite facesof the piston quickly to completely relax the spring and urge said bodyand limb portions apart rapidly to cause said figure to leap into theair, said latter means including ports in the cylinder side wall and inthe cylinder end which said piston approaches in effecting theequalization of pressures, the ports being freely communicable with theatmosphere.

2. A leaping figure toy comprising body and limb portions pivotallysecured together adjacent a rearward end of the figure, and securedwithin a forward open end of the figure in the body portion a cylinderhaving a piston therein, a piston rod projecting from the cylinderdownwardly and rearwardly toward the limb portion, the cylinder beingpivotally secured to the body portion and the piston rod being pivotallysecured to the limb portion, a coil spring outwardly of the cylindersurrounding the piston rod and having an upper end slidable on thepiston, the lower end being supported by the piston rod for movementtherewith, means to develop a vacuum upon the upper side of the pistonupon relative movement of the cylinder downwardly with respect to thepiston to compress the spring, means to leak air slowly into the vacuumthus created to reverse the relative movement of the piston and cylinderand to partially relax the spring and urge said body and limb portionsapart, and means operable upon said relative movement to equalize thepressure upon opposite faces of the piston quickly to completely relaxthe spring and urge said body and limb portions apart rapidly to causesaid figure to leap upwardly and forwardly into the air, said means toequalize the pressure including ports in the cylinder side wall and thecylinder end towards which said piston moves in said equalization, saidports being communicable with the atmosphere.

3. A leaping figure toy comprising an animal simulating frame having asubstantially rigid body portion and substantially rigid limb meanspivotally secured together adjacent the rearward end of the frame, saidlimb means extending beneath the body portion, and spring actuatedmechanism connecting said limb means and body portion together forwardlyof the frame and normally urging said body portion and limb means apart,said spring actuated mechanism including a fluid pressure cylinderhaving a piston therein and a spring operably connected to the pistonand cylinder and being stressed by relative movement between the pistonand cylinder, said cylinder having one end in communication with theatmosphere and the said cylinder and piston being arranged wherebyrelative movement between the cylinder and piston in one directioncreates a vacuum in the cylinder space behind said piston andsimultaneously positions the body portion of said toy downwardlyadjacent said limb means, said spring actuated mechanism including meansto leak air slowly into the said vacuum cylinder space to cause saidpiston to creep and to slowly relax said spring from a stressedcondition and cause said toy body portion to move upwardly relative tosaid limb means and simulate the movement of an animal just beforemaking a leap, said spring actuated mechanism including port means ofsubstantial size in said cylinder communicable with the atmosphere andtraversable by said piston in slow movement thereof to equalize the airpressure on opposite sides of said piston to bring about the full actionof said spring and cause said toy as a whole to leap into the air insimulation of an animal leap.

4. A leaping figure toy comprising an animal simulating frame having asubstantially rigid body portion and substantially rigid limb meanspivotally secured together adjacent the rearward end of the frame, saidlimb means extending beneath the body portion, and spring actuatedmechanism connecting said limb means and body portion together forwardlyand normally urging said body portion and limb means apart, said springactuated mechanismincluding a fluid pressure cylinder having a pistontherein and a piston rod connected thereto and extending from saidcylinder, a spring operably connected to said piston rod and cooperablewith the piston and cylinder to be stressed by relative movement betweenthe piston and cylinder, said cylinder and piston being arranged suchthat relative movement between the cylinder and piston in one directioncreates a vacuum upon the one side of the said piston and simultaneouslypositions the body portion downwardly adjacent the limb means, saidspring actuated mechanism including first means to leak air slowly intothe said vacuum on one side of said piston to initially slowly move saidpiston and to slowly relax said spring from a stressed condition to movethe body portion slowly upwardly relative to the limb means to simulatemovement of an animal in setting itself prior to effecting a leap, andsaid spring actuated mechanism also including port means of substantialsize in said cylinder communicable with the atmosphere and traversableby said piston in slow movement thereof to equalize the air pressure onopposite sides of said piston more quickly to relax said spring to causesaid toy as a whole to leap into the air in simulation of an animalleap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,243,380 Berger Oct. 16, 1917 1,312,885 Barnett Aug. 12, 1919 1,377,528Svendsen May 10, 1921 1,991,119 Riddell Feb. 12, 1935 2,404,477 EllisJuly 23, 1946 2,570,584 Miskin Oct. 9, 1951

